Grand jury judge urges Penn St. case to go forward

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The supervising judge for the grand jury that investigated how former Penn State administrators handled the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal said in a new court filing that the criminal case against them needs to move forward.

Judge Barry Feudale made the comment in an order released Tuesday in the case against Graham Spanier, Gary Schultz and Tim Curley.

“Continued delay of this case is not in the interest of justice as to (the) defendants and the alleged victims,” Feudale wrote.

The order granted a defense request to release motions by Curley and Schultz — that were previously denied by Feudale — to throw out a grand jury report issued against them last year.

Feudale gave prosecutors three days to challenge his decision, and a spokesman for the state attorney general’s office had no immediate comment.

A lawyer for Schultz also had no immediate comment, and a message left for Curley’s defense team was not immediately returned.

Feudale also denied a request by Curley and Schultz to unseal related arguments and rulings, and he turned down a motion by Curley for grand jury transcripts.

Sandusky, the school’s former assistant football coach, was arrested on child molestation charges in November 2011, at the same time charges of perjury and failure to properly report suspected abuse were lodged against Curley and Schultz.

Sandusky was convicted last summer and is pursuing appeals while he serves a 30- to 60-year state prison sentence.

Curley and Schultz have not gone to trial, and additional charges were filed against them last November, when Spanier was charged.

The courts have not conducted a preliminary hearing for the second set of charges, which is unusual, as the defendants have objected to the possibility that former Penn State chief counsel Cynthia Baldwin might be a witness against them.

“In this court’s view, defendants’ various motions, appeals and assertions (all of which are within their rights) are an attempt to delay the case from being heard before the proper tribunals. Those tribunals are the Dauphin County magisterial district judge and the trial judge,” Feudale wrote.

On April 9, Feudale denied requests to throw out the grand jury report and said he no longer had jurisdiction over the matter.

The three men face charges of perjury, obstruction, endangering the welfare of children, failure to properly report suspected abuse and conspiracy.

Spanier was forced out as university president shortly after Sandusky’s arrest. Curley was the school’s athletic director, but he is currently on leave while serving out the final year of his contract. Schultz, once a top administrator as vice president for business and finance, has retired.